Barrel fillers



Jan. 3, 1956 WEBER 2,729,382

BARREL FILLERS Filed Dec. 1, 1952 4/ 5 2/ Z /7 1 20a z/a 22 TFF l f W is A! 24 39 H4 9 INVENTOR. JOHN G. WEBER By flw, W

A TTORNEY- United States Patent BARREL FILLERS John G. Weber, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Pennsylvania Flexible Metallic Tubing Co., Philadelphia, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application December 1, 1952, Serial No. 323,481 2 Claims. (CL 226-127) This invention relates to barrel fillers and more particularly to an improved type of barrel filler which is completely foolproof, yet has a relatively few number of parts.

Due to the greatly increased use of barrel or drum fillers for highly volatile liquids such as gasoline and aircraft fuel it has become increasingly important to provide a simple, inexpensive filler of the type which automatically shuts olf the supply of liquid to the barrel when the barrel becomes filled. Devices of this sort are customarily float-actuated so that when the liquid reaches a pre-determined height in the barrel the float rises to close a shut-off valve in the filler housing.

The consequences of faulty action in the shut-off mechanism of the filler are quite serious. Should the shut-off mechanism fail to operate or if the filler leaks, highly volatile fuel might escape which could cause disastrous fires or an explosion involving the loss of an entire refueling depot.

The present drum or barrel filler is characterized by a float rod which extends directly upward through the top of the filler housing. A small pipe forms a guide for the float rod and a special bracket is used on the filler spout to maintain the filler assembly in a substantially vertical position so that the float and/or the float rod will not stick or bind. The spring-loaded valve is controlled by means of a lever having an elongated extension suitable for manual operation which is readily forced downwardly to hold the valve open and to engage the latch or bellcrank connected to the float rod.

It is a primary object of the invention therefore to provide an improved, simplified barrel filler having a spring, a rod, a shut-off valve, and a lever on top of the valve housing for maintaining the valve open.

A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic barrel filler assembly having a spout, a valve chamber detachably secured to said spout and a releasable latch on top of said valve chamber actuatable by a float rod extending directly upward through the spout and the top of the valve chamber.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means for retaining an automatic barrel filler in a fixed position in a drum or barrel being filled.

Further objects will be apparent from the specification and drawings in which:

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view of a barrel filler constructed in accordance with the present invention,

Fig. 2 is a top view of my improved filler, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail showing the filler supporting bracket and a side view of the spout.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a valve chamber or housing 5 having a threaded inlet port 6 and an internal valve seat 7 which provides fluid communication from chamber 8 to chamber 9 in the housing. The housing can be readily cast of metal and is generally cylindrical in shape. The valve 10 is provided with a stem 11 which enables the valve to move in the hollow valve guide 12 formed integrally with a plug or cap 13. A helical compression spring 14 urges the valve 10 to closed position on valve seat 7. The opposite side of valve 10 is provided with a boss 15 having a seat or depression 16 in which one end of push rod 17 is positioned. Rod 17 extends upwardly through a threaded packing 18 and a packing washer 19 desirably formed of Teflon, which is the trade name for tetrafluoroethylene.

The valve actuating lever 20 is pivotally mounted at 21 on boss 21a formed on top of housing 5, and has an extension 20a providing sufficient leverage so that the valve 10 can be readily unseated by manual pressure exerted on the extension 20a. Lever 20 has a slot 22 which engages an arm 23a of bellcrank 23 pivotally mounted on top of housing 5 at 24. A roller 25 mounted on arm 23a holds the extension 20a down when the apparatus is cooked to retain the valve 10 in open position as shown in Fig. 1.

The spout 30 is threadedly engaged with housing 5 to provide easy servicing and assembly as well as simplification of manufacturing cost. Spout 30 includes a central tube or guide 31 for the float rod 32 and this guide is secured in a web 33 at the bottom of the spout and to the upper part of the valve housing 5 at 34. Rod 32 supports at its lower end a float 36 which has free vertical movement in float chamber 37 comprising the lower end of the spot. Suitable apertures 38, 38 (Fig. 2) divert liquid away from the float when filling the drum. The upper end of the float rod 32 is connected to the bifurcated bellcrank arm 23b by means of a removable pin 39 so that suitable adjustment may be made by inserting the pin 39 in one of a plurality of holes 40, 40 in the rod.

In setting the filler, the operator presses lever 20 downwardly towards housing 5 until the roller 25 automatically engages the upper surface of the lever. Since the upper edge 41 of arm 23a is slightly beveled, the operator has only to grasp the valve housing with one hand and to press the lever extension 20a with his thumb. The weight of the float rod and bellcrank arm 23b is suflicient to latch the lever 20 once the roller protrudes through aperture 22,-and to assist this action the forward face of the aperture may be slightly undercut.

Since it is important that there be no sticking of the float or of the float rod, it is desirable to maintain the filler assembly in a substantially vertical position while filling the barrel. This is accomplished by means of a detachable and adjustable bracket 42 which has a plurality of vertically extending lugs 43 and a large flange 44 which engages the top of the barrel bung 45. A short arm or lug 46 formed integrally with the bracket, extends through the bung 45 and engages the bottom edge thereof by means of a lip 47. The radial extension of lip 47 is so calculated with respect to the outside diameter of the spout 30 that there is sufiicient clearance to insert the spout in the bung when moved to the left as seen in Fig. 1. With the spout completely inserted, the filler assembly is shifted slightly in the bung so that the Weight of the filler and the hose, clamps the assembly in the bung between flange 44 and the opposite upper ears 48 of the bracket 43. The position of the bracket on the spout is readily adjusted by means of clamp screw 49.

It will thus be understood that I have provided an extremely simple, inexpensive and safe automatic barrel filler that is readily inserted in the barrel and retained in a vertical position during filling. Furthermore, the automatic valve is quickly installed even by an inexperienced operator with no danger that the valve Will not be properly set and released. All parts are readily accessible for servicing and repair and they may be quickly detached from each other.

Having thus described my invention,

I claim:

1. A barrel filler assembly comprising an elongated valve housing having an inlet at one end and a discharge at the other end, an internal partition, means in said housing forming an inlet. compartment and a discharge compartment, said compartments being in; substantially longitudinal alignment, said partition means having a valve seat opening therein spaced from the sides of said housing and lying in av plane substantially parallel to the longitudinal plane of said housing, a valve. positioned within said inlet compartment and below said partition, said valve including spring loading means seated between the bottom surface of the valve and the. bottom surface of said valve housing urging said valve upwardly into said valve seat opening, a valve rod extending upwardly from said valve and through said housing, a lever pivotally mounted to said housing forward of said valve rod for engaging and vertically actuating said valve rod to displace said valve, said lever provided with a slotted opening rearward of said valve rod, a bellcrank pivotally mounted to the top of said housing at a point in substantial alignment with the slot in said lever to latch the lever in a position contiguous to the valve housing when the lever is depressed, a spout threadably engaged to the discharge compartment of said housing and extending downwardly therefrom at substantially right angles thereto, a tubular guide supported eoaxially in the spout, a float rod in said guide, means for adjustably connecting the upper end of the float rod to the other free arm of the bellcrank, and a float attached to the lower end of the float rod.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which the bellerank arm engageable with the lever has a beveled face and a roller whereby the bellerank automatically locks the lever when the lever is pressed towards the housing.

Stewart Sept. 19., 1876 Meyer Oct. 13, 1942 

